Unbalanced
by The Cat's Paw
Summary: After being stabbed with a kunai etched with fuinjutsu, Sakura finds herself torn between two different times, and two different shinobi. KakaSaku & MinaSaku. Time and dimensional travel fic. T rated.
1. The First Seal

**A new story! This is a KakaSakuMina seal-powered time travelling fic. Kinda. You'll see. ;)**

 **Disclaimer that I don't own. And review please! :)**

 _ **Unbalanced**_

 **The First Seal**

She was being chased through the woods.

Haruno Sakura was trying to make a strategic retreat, but her enemy didn't seem to want to let her. As fast as she ran, they matched her, up to the point that they were slowly gaining on her. Her mind worked furiously as she tried to come up with a plan to either lose them, or defeat them. And yet, her orders hadn't been to engage, though it hadn't been her choice to disregard them. She'd been discovered as she'd attempted to leave the enemy base.

Gritting her teeth, Sakura found herself wishing that she had a summons that could get her out of here, like Naruto's toads, or heck, even Sasuke's creepy snakes. All she had was Katsuyu, and quite frankly, as powerful and wise as the slug was, she wasn't going to be winning many races any time soon. That meant that for Sakura, there was really only one choice. She was going to have to fight.

A quick check of her inventory, and Sakura slowed her step, not bothering to hide that fact since she knew the enemy nin already had her tracked. When he appeared, it was with a maniacal grin on his face. Sakura made a disgusted expression at the look of him, already searching him out for his weak points.

"Finally decided to stop running, 'ey?" he leered at her. "Oh, but you're a pretty one. Almost a shame that I'm gonna hafta wreck that face of yours. You woulda fetched a nice high price on the market."

Right. Human trafficking. That was one of the things the gang this guy ran with was involved in. Human trafficking, drug trading, illegal arms dealing, you name it, they likely did it. Konoha was interested in shutting them down, once it was discovered they'd started operating in Fire Country recently. Before that, they'd been Kumo's problem.

"Too bad for you, you're not going to live long enough to do that," Sakura said, then attacked.

The fight was relatively easy, he went down to her taijutsu style, thanks mostly in part to her enhanced strength. Sakura didn't come out of it unscathed, though, and had to spend chakra to heal herself. Searching him, she found nothing of real interest, other than a weird kunai that she disregarded as useless. She threw it to the side, then yelped in surprise when she realised that it landed at the feet of _another_ enemy that she'd had no idea was also following her.

 _Situational awareness, Sakura!_ she chastised herself.

Leaping up and instantly on guard, Sakura watched the guy calmly bend down to pick the kunai up, examining it critically as he straightened. He eyed her then, assessing her, and Sakura felt that this guy was likely on a whole different level from the other one.

"You know," he said, his voice a drawl, "as useless as Manabu was, he was still one of my men. I'm afraid I can't just let you get away with killing him."

He threw the kunai at her and Sakura dodged, but he was suddenly behind her, kunai back in hand, stabbing her in the back, perilously close to her spine. She spun and threw a chakra enhanced punch at him, hitting his arm. She heard it break even as he swore and moved away from her. Reaching behind her, she yanked the kunai out, already sending healing chakra to mend the wound.

The fight from there on was brutal, both of them using heavy hitting attacks. She had her enhanced strength, and he apparently had a kanabo. As good at evading as Sakura was, this guy was fast, even with his heavy weapon, and he got several hits in on her. She was constantly healing, releasing enough chakra to keep herself from being overwhelmed by her injuries.

Eventually it turned into a battle of attrition, who would outlast the other. In the end, Sakura managed to get a hit on the side of his head. It was barely a graze, but it was enough to scramble his brains and win the fight for herself. As he slumped to the ground, Sakura repeated the process of searching him, this time keeping an eye out in case someone _else_ was following also. She was exhausted, and didn't want another repeat performance.

That kunai she'd been stabbed with… Something had happened when the second guy had stabbed her with it. Still not seeing anything of worth in it, Sakura pocketed it and resolved to see if an analysis team could figure it out. All she knew was that she'd felt a sliver of chakra enter her with the blade, even though that could have just been the guy she was fighting. Checking it over again with her chakra, she still couldn't feel anything, but she would get shishou, or Shizune to look it over for her when she got home.

The trip back to Konoha was uneventful from there on out. Sakura passed through the gates with no problem, waving cheerfully at Izumo and Kotetsu, who greeted her just as cheerily. She headed straight up to the Hokage's office, where her old sensei _should_ be, but she'd see when she got there… Ah, good, he was still in.

"Hokage-sama," she greeted him with a short bow, and he gave her a 'look' and an exasperated sigh.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, Sakura?" he asked.

"I'll gladly be more informal when we're not in your office, Hokage-sama," she told him with a teasing smirk.

Kakashi sighed once more, then seemed to notice the state she was in. Though knowing him, he'd probably sensed the scent of battle on her with his heightened sense of smell.

"So, how did the mission go?"

Sakura gave him a run-down of what had happened, from the moment she'd come across the base, to the end of her second fight on the way back. She handed over the kunai dutifully when he asked for it, waiting as he examined it for himself.

"This looks a little familiar," he mused, and Sakura perked up at that. "I think there's… Ah! Here we are."

Sakura leaned forward to see the spot he indicated, but was at a loss as to what he'd seen. "What is it?" she asked, and he sighed at her.

"Sakura, I know you never really studied it other than for your yin seal, but surely you recognise fuinjutsu when you see it?" he said.

"What? Those scratches are fuinjutsu?" she asked. "But they don't match anything I've seen on seals."

"It's chicken scratch, in sealing terms," Kakashi said. "But this is definitely fuinjutsu, and since you were stabbed with this…"

Sakura stiffened at the connotations. "How bad is it?" she asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Because the fuinjustu is so poor, I'd say it's pretty darn bad," he said. "We need to get you checked out for any seals this may have placed on you."

Sakura was feeling more than a little panicked at the idea of an unknown jutsu, of _any_ sort, invading her body, and she nodded rather sharply. "Who can we get to look at it?" she asked. "Konoha's last, great fuinjutsu master died years ago, and I don't think Jiraiya-sama taught Naruto anything much on it."

"Maa, you're underestimating Naruto, Sakura," Kakashi told her. "And you're also forgetting that you're standing in front of the student of the Yondaime Hokage, one of Konoha's finest in fuinjutsu."

"Are you saying you know fuinjutsu?" Sakura asked.

"I'm no master in the way he was, but I did pick up quite a bit from sensei and Jiraiya," he told her. "Still, I want you to head straight over to the hospital, get Tsunade to check you over. Make sure nothing happened."

Sakura nodded, then turned to leave to head to the hospital, only for Kakashi to call her name to stop her. Turning back, she saw that he'd gotten out of his chair and was headed straight for her.

"Your back's bleeding," he told her, and sure enough, when Sakura reached around to brush her fingers over the back of her shirt, they came back bloodied.

"But I healed everything," Sakura said, confused.

"Here, give me a look," Kakashi said, and she let him pull up the back of her shirt to see.

His fingers trailing over her exposed back gave her tingly goosebumps. At the sound of him sucking in a breath, Sakura demanded, "What? What is it?"

"There's no sign of injury," he told her, "but… A seal has formed."

Sakura's eyes widened. "What kind of seal?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Kakashi admitted, "but it's expanding outwards. It's.. ah!"

"What is it?"

Kakashi sighed and lowered her shirt, allowing her to turn to look at him and see the worry in his eyes. "It's feeding on your chakra," he told her, and her eyes widened even further. "From what I know of seals, it likely activated as soon as you used chakra once you were stabbed."

"So… don't use chakra for awhile then?" Sakura guessed, and he nodded.

"It won't stop it from growing, but hopefully we can stunt it until we can figure out how to remove it," he told her. "Go straight over to Tsunade. The sooner we get this sorted, the better."

Sakura nodded and headed off.

The trip to the hospital where her shishou should be wasn't that long, despite the fact that she had to do it without utilising her chakra over the rooftops. Along the way, though, she ran into Lee, who seemed to have just come from his most recent bout of training. The moment he saw her, he naturally made a bee-line for her.

"Sakura-chan!" he greeted her, thumbs up with a sparkling smile. "It is so good to see you returned from your mission! Where are you headed now, my delicate Spring Flower!?"

Sakura smiled indulgently at him. "The hospital," she told him. "I have to check in with Tsunade-shishou about an injury I received."

"Then I shall accompany you!" Lee decided, and Sakura allowed him to.

They were almost there when all of a sudden, the seal on her back flared painfully. Sakura cried out with the pain, causing Lee to stop the chatter he'd been aiming her way, even as her legs buckled under her.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Lee cried. "What is wrong? How can I help!?"

"Get me to Tsunade!" Sakura gritted out between clenched teeth, before the pain became too much, and she passed out right there and then on the ground.

 **So what did you think? Review please! :)**

 _Kanabo: A large, metal bo, or Japanese staff._


	2. The Second Seal

**Hiya! New chapter! :)**

 **Disclaimer that I don't own, and enjoy!**

 **The Second Seal**

Loud cries echoed all around her. The sound of panic reverberated, then cries for help. A loud buzzing in her ear as what felt like chakra approached her. Cold, distant hands grabbed hold of her, lifting her none too gently. Carried like a sack of potatoes over someone's shoulder, she'd guess, as they leapt from rooftop to rooftop. A feeling of nausea at the vertigo of moving so fast, even though she knew she'd gone just as fast, if not faster, under her own steam before. And pain. A _lot_ of pain.

Then finally, _finally_ , peaceful darkness that overcame her as a finger was pressed into the back of her neck, chakra knocking her out completely.

She soon became aware of the intrusion into her mind, prodding at her unconsciousness and rousing her to wakefulness. Even though her Inner was gone, and hadn't been a presence in her mind for _years_ , a remnant still remained in the form of a mental awareness that most didn't have. Unless they were a Yamanaka, or were highly trained T&I ninja, like Ibiki. So when someone started poking around in her mind, Sakura shortly became aware of it.

They poked, they prodded, they saw things that any interrogator worth their salt would be able to find easily enough. She sensed a lot of disbelief at some of the things they saw, and knew the moment they realised that she was _watching them_. They tried to push her back under, but Sakura stood firm, a strong barrier in the storm that was their battle in her mind. In the end, she pushed them out, just as she did with Ino years ago at the chuunin exams, and like she still did sometimes whenever Ino wanted to practice a new technique on a strong mind.

(the anmitsu, dango, or whatever sweets she picked afterwards were _totally_ worth the migraine that she easily healed after, anyway)

Sakura followed the intruder upwards, her mind moving slowly, yet becoming alert as she started to become aware of her surroundings. The scent of bleach and medicine assailed her nose, leading her to believe that she was in a hospital. Soft sheets below her and the pillow under her head lent credence to that assumption. Eyes cracked open and she saw walls that were familiar, even though she _knew_ that Konoha's hospital walls had a different colour scheme now, since Pein's attack had forced them to rebuild.

Turning her head to the side, Sakura froze at the sight of a person she hadn't seen in a couple of years, and quite frankly had never expected to see again. The Sandaime Hokage, an _alive_ Sarutobi Hiruzen to boot, stared down at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. That expression cleared once he realised she was awake, and that genial smile she remembered so well from her childhood, graced his features.

"Haruno Sakura," he greeted her. "It's a pleasure to meet a future shinobi of this village."

Sakura's mind was blank, still trying to process his presence, so it really _wasn't_ her fault when she uttered a graceless, "Huh?" The Hokage chuckled at that.

"You are in the past, my dear," he told her. "The seal on your back, where you were stabbed. It is what brought you here."

Sakura sat up slowly, still processing, but felt a bit more in control of her coherency now. "The seal," she murmured. "It's a time travel one?"

The Sandaime shrugged. "There are some equations on it that would suggest that," he told her. "I've sent for our resident fuinjutsu master to come have a look at it, hopefully he won't be too long."

Fuinjutsu master? Sakura scrunched her nose and asked plaintively, "You don't mean that pervert Jiraiya, do you?"

Hiruzen laughed loudly at that, and said apologetically, "I'm afraid I do. But no matter that he is indeed a self-proclaimed pervert, he _is_ the best we have in understanding and unravelling seals."

"That's right, I certainly am!" a loud, booming voice declared.

Standing in the doorway was a proudly grinning Jiraiya, though he turned into a leering Jiraiya as soon as he saw Sakura. "Well, who is this lovely flower we have here?" he asked, winking at her. "You asked for the _services_ of the great Jiraiya, my sweet?"

Sakura groaned and face palmed, whilst Sarutobi sighed at his former student's antics. "Cut the showmanship, Jiraiya," he said seriously. "Get in here and close the door behind you, if you would."

Jiraiya's face turned serious at the Sandaime's tone, and he obeyed. "This is Haruno Sakura," Hiruzen introduced. "She has a seal on her back that has brought her at least twenty five years into the past. And before you say anything, it was confirmed with a Yamanaka mind scan."

Jiraiya gaped at her then, like a fish out of water, and it was mildly entertaining. The only thing that kept Sakura from laughing at his expression was the fact that she was shocked as well. So far back? Then that meant… Calculating in her head, she realised that the Third War had likely only recently started. Frankly, she was surprised that Jiraiya was still in the village, instead of already out on the front lines.

"Show me," the Sannin demanded suddenly, and Sakura turned, lifting up the bottom of her hospital gown, whilst also arranging the bedsheets so that he couldn't perve on her bum.

Calloused fingers poked at the seal as he studied it. Jiraiya sent his chakra through it, causing Sakura to stiffen every now and then, and after what felt like ages, but the steadily ticking clock on the wall said was only about twenty minutes. Every single time Jiraiya interacted with the seal, Sakura felt it twist. Eventually, once he was finished prodding at it, he stood up straight with a rather grim sounding 'hmm' that had Sakura turning to see the frown on his face.

"It's not stable," he told them after a moment. "In fact, it could flare up again at any moment. Where it will take you, I have no idea… Further into the past? Back to your own time? We'll only know when it happens."

"When?" Sakura asked.

"When," Jiraiya confirmed. "There are absolutely no ifs, ands, or buts about it. No matter how… _lovely…_ a butt it might be."

Jiraiya grinned lecherously, letting Sakura know that even though he'd been examining the seal, he hadn't missed the opportunity to perve, either. Anger flared up, and Sakura easily lashed out at the man who was still within reach, sending him flying into the wall.

Hiruzen chuckled, even as Jiraiya groaned. "Monstrous strength," he grumbled. "Let me guess, Tsunade is your sensei?"

"My shishou," Sakura acknowledged, pushing her hair aside to reveal her seal. "I'm her apprentice. Though I've officially learned everything she can teach me, there's always more to learn."

"Well, you certainly have her strength," Hiruzen said, his amusement still evident in his voice. "Jiraiya. Can you get back over here so we can discuss the seal more? Preferably leaving your… flirtations… over there."

Jiraiya sighed dramatically. "I suppose I could hold back for now, sensei," he said with a wink in Sakura's direction, causing her eye to twitch in annoyance.

An hour later found Sakura back in her own clothes, for the most part, with Jiraiya hovering over her, examining an expanded form of the seal. Thankfully, he was keeping his lecherous thoughts to himself, even though she sat topless before him. It seemed that seals were enough to distract him from his perverseness. Temporarily at least. Finally, he collapsed his analysis, allowing Sakura to put her shirt back on.

"That thing is a mess," he declared. "There's a mix of Uzushio and Konoha seals, and even some that I suspect are Kiri and Iwa in origin. And that's not including all the stuff that's unique to whomever it was that did this. Honestly, I don't know what I can do to fix this, not without _years_ of study. Or at least another set of eyes."

"Kushina might be able to help," Hiruzen suggested.

"Maybe," Jiraiya said. "But I doubt it. Kushina's brilliant with her sealing, she can invent them left, right, and centre. But she struggles when it comes to understanding someone else's seal work, and analysis _isn't_ her strong point. She _really_ doesn't have the patience for it, for one. Frankly, sensei, Minato would be better for this."

"Minato is still out on the front," Hiruzen said, then sighed. "His rotation is up in five months, and I fully intended for him to take on a gennin team at that point. As it is, he and his apprentice are needed out there. For the moment, at least."

He turned to Sakura then. "Until then, are you willing to have Jiraiya study it as much as he can before it activates again, as he has suggested?" he asked.

Sakura levelled a 'look' at the Sannin. "As long as that perverted old man can keep his comments to himself, and his hands only on the seal, I think I can put up with him," she conceded.

"Hey!" Jiraiya said, offended. "I am not _old_! I'll have you know I'm only thirty three! I'm still a young buck! I'm in my prime!"

Sakura just shrugged, noting the amusement in the Sandaime's face at this exchange. "Well, I remember you as a dirty old man," she said. "You were what? Fifty, when I was only twelve?"

"But that's in the future!" Jiraiya complained, then started to a stop. "Wait, _remember_? What's that supposed to mean?"

Sakura shut her mouth and Hiruzen sighed. "No poking into the future," the Hokage ordered. "At least, not until I've discussed this with my council. By all accounts from the briefing I got from Yamanaka Souta, the future Sakura came from is peaceful, even if the intervening time was tumultuous. Jiraiya, can I trust you, and I mean _trust you_ , to handle things properly?"

Jiraiya's expression turned serious, even as both of them had failed to notice the rather disgusted look Sakura's face had taken on at the mention of the Hokage's council.

"You can trust me, sensei," Jiraiya said solemnly, and Hiruzen nodded.

"Alright, now we can…"

Whatever the Sandaime was about to say was cut off as Sakura suddenly let out a cry of pain.

"What is it?" Jiraiya demanded. "Is it the seal?"

Sakura nodded, clenching her teeth from the pain. "This… happened before… when I came… back. Argh!" she said between gasps, before letting out another cry.

Collapsing onto the floor before them, Sakura could feel the darkness of unconsciousness threatening her again, and she fought it as hard as she possibly could.

"Sakura! Listen to me!" she could hear Jiraiya's voice calling out to her. "If you get back to your own time, remember to tell someone to check the twenty second gate of the seal. That might help. Also, if you come back here, we'll…"

Whatever he was going to say next was lost to her as the darkness finally won and the world around her went black.

 **So what did you think? Review please! :)**


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